R. Allen Stanford Still in Jail

Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was recently accused of fraud through the creation of an enormous Ponzi scheme and despite his best attempts, he will remain in jail until his Texas trial. Stanford attempted to appeal the ruling that would have him stay in jail, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has upheld a ruling that classifies Stanford as a flight risk.
 
Along with four executives of the now-defunct Stanford Financial Group, Stanford has been accused of collecting billions of dollars of investors’ money, paying off investors with the money collected from other victims, and then siphoning off $1.6 billion to himself. Stanford’s conviction in court would net him 375 years in jail.
 
According to the appeals judges, Stanford is a flight risk because of the huge amounts of contacts he has amassed all around the globe, as well as his ability to get money from these contacts despite the fact that his own assets have been frozen. The court has already accused Stanford of maintaining a secret Swiss bank account, from which he had managed to withdraw $100 million while the SEC investigated his company.

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